A Ryanair flight carrying 174 passengers from Sofia, Bulgaria, to London Stansted was escorted by fighter jets on Monday after a false security alert claimed a “Palestinian man onboard” planned to commit harmful acts.
The Boeing 737 had just entered Serbian airspace when panic broke out and German authorities scrambled two Eurofighter Typhoons to intercept the aircraft. Czech air traffic controllers then refused the jet entry into their airspace due to the seriousness of the report, forcing the plane to divert before resuming its route.
The aircraft landed safely at Stansted later that day, where it remained overnight while authorities investigated.
Bulgarian Transport and Communications Minister Grozdan Karadjov later confirmed that no Palestinian citizens were on board and that the alert was a hoax.
The false report came from a Bulgarian man from Plovdiv, whose ex-wife and two daughters were passengers on the flight.
Officials have not yet detailed possible charges against the individual, but the incident caused significant disruption and triggered a high-level security response across multiple European countries.
Written By Rodney Mbua
